Lauren watched as the ceremony proceeded from the her place at the Hufflepuff table, where she'd sat down after the choir had finished its performance at the very beginning of the evening. She let her eyes wander down the table, smiling when she met the eyes of fellow students she recognized, then looked at the front to watch the sorting ceremony, like most others. As usual, the other three houses seemed to be having a bit of a battle going on about the first years that joined them. Hufflepuff was always a little different there. They welcomed anyone, and so far, Lauren had observed that the children that joined them were usually always happy with that choice. The sorting process was a bit of a mystery, but the hat was always right in the end, no matter how the student himself was thinking of the choice at first. 
She looked down at the table to grab her drink and took a few sips, her mind wandering off to what her timetable would look like, what classes she'd have this year. The headmaster had mentioned two newly introduced ones. It sounded interesting, but still, she was hoping it not to be too much extra work, since she already had plenty of that as it was. Which reminded her that she still hadn't gotten around to going through her Herbology notes from the end of the year before. Things had gotten pretty crazy at the end and she had forgotten to bring them home with her. She'd have to make sure to do that in the next couple weeks, when classes were only just starting and she would still have enough time for that.